Bank Group Approves €70 Million Loan to Finance Medical Coverage Reforms in Morocco

Tunis, December, 11th, 2008 - The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), on Thursday 11 December 2008 in Tunis, approved a 70 million Euros loan to finance the Kingdom of Morocco’s Phase II Program Support for Medical Insurance (PARCOUM II), to be implemented over a period of two years (2009-2010).

The Medical Coverage Reform Support Programme (PARCOUM) was designed by the Moroccan Government with the support of its development partners, including the African Development Bank Group. The first phase of the programme, covering the 2002-2006 period, helped to strengthen the Basic Medical Coverage (BMC) of the working population of the formal sector. After a first financing, which was implemented satisfactorily, AfDB decided a second support (PARCOUM II) to consolidate the achievements of PARCOUM I and improve the conditions of access to quality health services through extension of BMC to the entire population, particularly to economically disadvantaged social groups. The Government’s programme covers five years (2008-2012). The Bank intends to support this programme with a two-trench budget support in 2009 and 2010.

The programme will support poverty reduction efforts made by the Government under the National Human Development Initiative (INDH). The efforts are aimed at enabling Morocco to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The programme will therefore lay emphasis on equitable access to quality health care through medical coverage for poor populations.

The expected outcomes of the programme are: (i) Medical Assistance Scheme for the Economically Underprivileged (RAMED) implemented and financed for all the poor and vulnerable populations; (ii) effective access to priority health care for all RAMED beneficiaries; (iii) reduction of the share of households in health financing; (iv) identification and management of the disadvantaged populations not covered by RAMED and other insurance schemes; (v) improved availability of health care; (vi) increased satisfaction of users of health services; and (vii) agencies involved in the implementation of the BMC reform are operational and equipped with technical and managerial capacities.

The project’s main beneficiary is the most disadvantaged population, estimated to 8.5 million people.

At the institutional level, PARCOUM II will help to support central and decentralized structures, notably the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Finance, health care facilities and specialized agencies.

The total coast of this program is Euro 110 million. The Bank is collaborating closely with European Union (EU) with which it co financed the first phase of the programme (PARCOUM I) and will finance this phase, with Euro 40 million.

The Bank which is the lead donor in terms of volume of financing has a lot of experience of budget support in different sectors in Morocco. To date, the Bank has financed six budget support programmes and one Balance of Payment support in Morocco for a total amount of UA* 851 million. The completion reports of most of these programmes concluded that the country performed well in their implementation.